JP2005237854A - Paper money recovery system in game facility - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper money recovery system capable of reducing cost with respect to game facility. <P>SOLUTION: When paper money is fed to a ball lending machine 100, a control part 323 obtains the carrying position of the paper money discharged on the upstream side on the basis of the position of the ball lending machine on the upstream side recorded in a management table beforehand and the time at which the ball lending machine discharges the paper money to a paper money carrier 320. After standing by until a distance between the ball lending machine 100 requesting the discharge of the paper money and the paper money being carried exceeds a prescribed range, the ball lending machine is permitted to discharge the paper money. Thus, the overlap of the paper money in the paper money carrier 320 is prevented. Since the paper money recovery system is simplified and formed, the costs relating to the game facility are reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a plurality of gaming machines, a gaming medium lending machine that lends a gaming ball or the like used when playing a game adjacent to each gaming machine, and a bill inserted into each gaming medium lending machine via a conveyance path. The present invention relates to a banknote collection system for preventing interference of banknotes when each game medium lending machine discharges to a conveyance path in a gaming facility configured to include a banknote collection device to collect.

  In game hall stores (halls) where a plurality of gaming machines such as pachinko machines or slot machines are installed, game media such as game balls and medals used to play games on these game machines are lent to the players. A lending machine is provided. For example, on the gaming island shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of pachinko machines 4 are arranged horizontally, and adjacent to each pachinko machine 4, an intermediary ball lending machine 900 (hereinafter referred to as “ball lending machine”) is rented. Each machine is installed. The ball lending machine 900 is a device that pays out the number of game balls according to the amount of inserted bills or coins to the tray of the pachinko machine 4.

  In addition, the amusement island is provided with a banknote collection device that collects banknotes thrown into the ball lending machine 900. For example, a bill transport path 910 is disposed behind each ball lending machine 900, and the bills B discharged by each ball lending device 900 are transported to a bill safe provided at the end of the game island and collected.

  The conventional ball lending machine 900 is connected with a banknote detection sensor 911 that detects the banknote B being transported by the banknote transport path 910. The banknote detection sensor 911 is attached to the banknote transport path 910 at a position slightly upstream from the ball lending machine 900 in the direction in which the banknote B is transported. The ball lending machine 900 monitors the signal from the banknote detection sensor 911, and when the banknote detection sensor 911 detects the banknote B passing through the banknote transport path 910, the inserted banknote is not discharged to the banknote transport path 910. By performing the control, overlapping of banknotes in the banknote transport path 910 is prevented.

  By the way, since the conventional banknote collection device requires a detecting device such as the banknote detection sensor 911 for each ball lending machine 900, there is a problem that the cost of the gaming equipment is increased, and the gaming equipment is also in terms of operation. There is a problem that all the detection devices must be inspected at the time of inspection, and maintenance work is complicated.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a conventional problem, and it aims at providing the banknote collection | recovery system of reducing the cost which concerns on game equipment.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of gaming medium lending machines that lend gaming media to be used when a game is played with a gaming machine according to the insertion of banknotes, and the respective gaming medium lending machines are loaded A bill collection system comprising a transport path for transporting bills and a control device connected to be able to communicate with each of the game medium lending machines, wherein the game medium lending machine is configured such that the inserted bills are true. A depositing signal transmitting means for generating a depositing signal and transmitting it to the control device when it is identified as being, and a banknote discharge for discharging the inserted banknote to the transport path in response to receiving a discharge permission signal from the control device. Means for storing the game medium lending machine and a storage means for storing the time at which each game medium lending machine discharges the banknote to the transport path, and the game medium lending machine. To receive the deposit signal from Based on the arrangement position and the time stored in the storage means, the transfer position of the banknotes discharged by the game medium lending machine other than the game medium lending machine that has transmitted the deposit signal is then transferred. A discharge permission means for transmitting the discharge permission signal to the game medium lending machine after waiting until a distance between the arrangement position of the game medium lending machine that has transmitted the deposit signal and the determined transport position exceeds a predetermined range. It is characterized by providing.

  According to the banknote collection system of the first aspect, the deposit signal generation means of the game medium lending machine generates a deposit signal and transmits it to the control device when it is identified that the inserted banknote is true. When the discharge permission means of the control device receives the deposit signal from the game medium lending machine, the discharge means of the control device is based on the arrangement position of each game medium lending machine stored in the storage means and the time when each game medium lending machine discharges the banknote to the transport path. The transfer position of the banknote discharged by the game medium lending machine other than the game medium lending machine that transmitted the deposit signal is obtained, and the distance between the arrangement position of the game medium lending machine and the calculated transfer position exceeds a predetermined range. After waiting, a discharge permission signal is transmitted to the game medium lending machine. The bill discharge means of the game medium lending machine discharges the inserted bills to the transport path in response to receiving a discharge permission signal from the control device. Thereby, interference with the banknote currently conveyed in the conveyance path and the banknote which a game media rental machine discharge | releases is prevented. Further, the bill collection system can be simplified and formed.

  Invention of Claim 2 is a banknote collection | recovery system of Claim 1, Comprising: The said discharge permission means is a direction in which the said conveyance path conveys a banknote rather than the said game media rental machine which transmitted the said payment signal. And determining the transport position of the banknotes discharged by all the game medium lending machines arranged on the upstream side, and the distance between the layout position of the game medium lending machine that transmitted the deposit signal and all the determined transport positions After waiting until the value exceeds a predetermined range, the discharge permission signal is transmitted to the game medium lending machine.

  According to the banknote collection system according to claim 2, when the discharge permission means of the control device receives the deposit signal from the game medium lending machine, the arrangement position of each game medium lending machine stored in the storage means and each game medium lending Based on the time when the machine ejects the banknotes to the transport path, all game media lending machines arranged on the upstream side in the direction in which the transport path transports banknotes from the game medium lending machine that sent the deposit signal are discharged After determining the transport position of the bills and waiting until the distance between the layout position of the game medium lending machine and all the determined transport positions exceeds a predetermined range, a discharge permission signal is transmitted to the game medium lending machine. Thereby, interference with the banknote currently conveyed in the conveyance path and the banknote which a game media rental machine discharge | releases is prevented. Further, the bill collection system can be simplified and formed.

  Invention of Claim 3 is a banknote collection system of Claim 1 or 2, Comprising: The said control apparatus shows the time which transmitted the said discharge | emission permission signal to the said game media rental machine, The said game media rental machine Is provided with an updating means for updating the storage contents of the storage means as the time when the bill is discharged.

  According to the banknote collection system according to claim 3, the update means of the control device stores the content stored in the storage means as the time when the game medium lending machine ejects the banknote as the time when the discharge permission signal is transmitted to the game medium lending machine. Update.

  The invention according to claim 4 is a plurality of gaming medium lending machines that lend out gaming media used when playing a game with a gaming machine according to the insertion of banknotes, and the gaming medium lending machines are loaded into each gaming medium lending machine Each game medium lending machine having storage means for storing a conveyance path for conveying banknotes, an arrangement position of each game medium lending machine, and a time at which each game medium lending machine ejects the banknotes to the conveyance path And a control unit that is communicably connected to the banknote collection system, wherein the game medium lending machine generates a deposit signal when the inserted banknote is identified as true. And when the control device receives the deposit signal from the game medium lending machine, the transport path conveys banknotes more than the game medium lending machine that has transmitted the deposit signal. In direction Based on the arrangement position stored in the storage means and the time, the transfer position of the banknotes discharged by all the game medium lending machines arranged on the flow side is transported, and the deposit signal is obtained. After waiting until the distance between the arrangement position of the transmitted game medium lending machine and all the determined transport positions exceeds a predetermined range, and sending a discharge permission signal to the game medium lending machine; and the game medium lending When the machine receives the discharge permission signal from the control device, the machine includes a step of discharging the inserted banknote into the transport path.

  According to the banknote collection method in the banknote collection system according to claim 4, the game medium lending machine generates a deposit signal and transmits it to the control device when it is determined that the inserted banknote is true. When the control device receives the deposit signal from the game medium lending machine, the control device outputs the deposit signal based on the arrangement position of each game medium lending machine stored in the storage means and the time when each game medium lending machine discharges the banknote to the transport path. Obtain the transport positions of the banknotes discharged by all the game medium lending machines arranged on the upstream side in the direction in which the transport path transports banknotes relative to the transmitted game medium lending machine, and the arrangement positions of the game medium lending machines and After waiting until the distances to all the determined transport positions exceed a predetermined range, a discharge permission signal is transmitted to the game medium lending machine. The game medium lending machine discharges the inserted banknotes to the conveyance path in response to receiving a discharge permission signal from the control device. Thereby, interference with the banknote currently conveyed in the conveyance path and the banknote which a game media rental machine discharge | releases is prevented. Further, the bill collection system can be simplified and formed.

  As described above, according to the banknote collection system in the gaming facility of the present invention, the system for collecting banknotes is simplified and formed without requiring a sensor or the like for detecting the banknotes being transported that has been conventionally used. Can do. Thereby, the cost concerning game equipment can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a banknote collection system provided on a game island 3 having a plurality of pachinko machines 4 and a ball lending machine 100 adjacent to them will be described with reference to the drawings. .

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the game island 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to FIG. 2, a plurality of pachinko machines 4 are arranged in the horizontal direction on the game island 3, and a ball lending machine 100 is installed adjacent to each pachinko machine 4. The ball lending machine 100 is a device that pays out the number of game balls corresponding to the amount of money from the ball dispensing nozzle 106 to the tray 44 of the pachinko machine 4 when a bill or coin is inserted by a player or the like. .

  Behind each pachinko machine 4 and the ball lending machine 100, a banknote transport device 320 as a banknote transport path and a coin transport apparatus 330 as a coin transport path are provided in the upper and lower positions along these arrangement directions. .

  In the banknote transport device 320, an endless chain (not shown) provided with a clamping member for clamping a banknote is accommodated by a driving source so as to circulate at a constant direction and a peripheral speed. A bill collection device 321 having a bill safe 322 is installed at the end of the bill transport device 320 in the bill transport direction. The banknotes discharged from the discharge port provided on the back side of the ball lending machine 100 are transported to the banknote recovery apparatus 321 while being held by a holding member that moves together with the chain of the banknote transfer apparatus 320, and are recovered by the banknote safe 322. The

  The banknote collection device 321 includes a control unit 323 formed from, for example, a one-chip microcomputer, and a storage unit 324 that is a memory for storing a management table and the like described later and a clock 325 are connected to the control unit 323. ing. Further, the control unit 323 is communicably connected to each of the ball lending machines 100 provided on the game island 3 via a signal wiring 326. In addition, each ball lending machine 100 and the control part 323 of the banknote collection | recovery apparatus 321 may be connected so that communication is possible by radio | wireless.

  Moreover, although mentioned later for details, the control part 323 of the banknote collection | recovery apparatus 321 is only when the ball lending machine 100 can discharge | emit the banknote B so that the banknote B conveyed with the banknote conveying apparatus 320 may not overlap. By transmitting the permission signal to the ball lending machine 100, the timing at which each ball lending machine 100 discharges the banknote B to the banknote transport device 320 is controlled.

  At one end of the game island 3, a coin collecting device 331 having a coin safe 332 connected to the end of the above-described coin transport device 330 in the transport direction is installed. That is, the coin C that has been identified and discharged by the ball lending machine 100 is conveyed by the coin conveying device 330 and collected by the coin collecting device 331.

  Next, the configuration of the ball lending machine 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3A is a side view showing the internal structure of the ball lending machine 100 with the main body cover removed, and shows a state where the ball lending machine 100 is attached to the mounting frame 311 of the game island 3. FIG. 3B is a front view of the ball lending machine 100 showing the external structure of the front panel 101.

  In FIG. 3B, on the upper part of the front panel 101 of the ball lending machine 100, a bill insertion slot 102 for inserting bills, a coin insertion slot 103 for inserting coins, an insertion amount and an error code, and the like. An LED display 104 is displayed. In addition, a ball dispensing nozzle 106 for discharging a game ball is swingably disposed in the center of the front panel 101 of the ball lending machine 100, and a coin return port 107 is disposed under the ball dispensing nozzle 106.

  3A, in the upper part of the ball lending machine 100, a bill discriminator 110 for identifying whether the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot 102 is a true thousand yen or 10,000 yen bill is disposed. Has been. On the back side of the bill validator 110, a bill outlet (not shown) for discharging the bill identified as a genuine note to the bill transport device 320 is provided.

  A ball dispensing unit 113 is disposed below the bill validator 110. The ball payout unit 113 and the ball payout nozzle 106 are connected by a guide member 114 so that the game balls discharged by the ball payout unit 113 to the guide member 114 are discharged from the ball payout nozzle 106. Further, a ball dispensing sensor 118 is provided at the discharge portion of the ball dispensing unit 113. The ball payout sensor 118 is a sensor that detects a game ball discharged from the ball payout unit 113. When a ball that passes toward the guide member 114 is detected, a pulse signal is generated, and a line control board 130 described later is used. Transmit to the control board 120.

  Below the ball payout unit 113, a coin discriminator 111 for determining whether the coin inserted from the coin insertion slot 103 is a regular one hundred yen coin or a five hundred yen coin is installed. Further, a guide member 112 is provided between the coin insertion slot 103 and the coin discriminator 111 located below the coin insertion slot 103, and the coins inserted from the coin insertion slot 103 fall in the guide member 112 with their own weight. Guided to the identification device 111.

  Further, a coin outlet (not shown) is provided on the back of the ball lending machine 100, and the coins that have been identified and distributed by the coin discriminator 111 as coins are transferred from the coin outlet through the bellows tube 340. The paper is discharged to the transport device 330. Furthermore, a guide member 115 for connecting the coin discriminator 111 and the coin return slot 107 is provided inside the ball lending machine 100, and foreign matter or the like that is discriminated and distributed by the coin discriminator 111 as not being a regular coin. It is discharged from the coin return port 107 through the guide member 115.

  A control board 120 that centrally controls the overall operation of the ball lending machine 100 and a line control board 130 that performs control for connecting to a local communication network in the hall are arranged below the ball lending machine 100. Yes. The line control board 130 is a circuit board that operates independently of the control board 120, collects information related to sales, etc., and transmits it to the hall server 5 which is one of information management computers in the hall. The line control board 130 operates the collected information from the outside including the control board 120 so that accurate information such as sales can be transmitted to the hall server 5 by preventing falsification of the collected information. It is black boxed so that it cannot be edited.

  Next, a control system provided in the ball lending machine 100 will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG.

  The control board 120 includes a central control unit 121 that is a CPU, and a ROM 122 and a RAM 123 that are semiconductor memories, an input / output unit 126, and a serial communication control unit 124 are centrally controlled via a bus printed on the board. Connected to the unit 121. The central control unit 121 controls the operation of the entire lending machine 100 by executing arithmetic processing according to a system program stored in advance in the ROM 122.

  The input / output unit 126 is connected to a display driver 125 that displays and drives the LED display 104 and other lamps provided on the front panel 101, whereby the central control unit 121 is charged to the ball lending machine 100. Alternatively, an error code or the like at the time of abnormal operation is displayed or notified on the LED display 104 or the like via the display driver 125.

  Moreover, as described above, the banknote collection device 321 installed at the end of the game island 3 is connected to the ball lending machine 100 via the input / output unit 126 of the control board 120.

  The input / output unit 126 is connected to a bill discriminator 110, a coin discriminator 111, a ball dispensing unit 113, and a ball dispensing sensor 118. Thereby, the control board 120 sends a signal for permitting the deposit to the banknote discriminator 110 and the coin discriminator 111, and a control command for controlling the number of game balls to be paid out to the ball payout unit 113. Send it out. On the other hand, the status signal and the detection signal from each device are transmitted to the control board 120 via the line control board 130. Here, the line control board 130 collects and records information related to sales, such as payment information included in these signals, by first receiving and relaying signals related to payment from each device.

  Further, the line control board 130 is connected to the control board 120 so as to be capable of serial communication via a serial communication control unit 124 having a serial communication interface compliant with a communication standard such as RS232C.

  Further, the line control board 130 is connected to the pachinko machine 4 adjacent to the ball lending machine 100 with a wiring cable, and mutually confirms the operation by exchanging ready signals and the like.

  Further, the line control board 130 includes a LAN control unit 131, whereby the ball lending machine 100 and the hall server 5 are connected to the hall server 5 via the local communication network 7 in the hall.

  Next, the operation of the ball lending machine 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows the side surface of the ball lending machine 100 that is mounted on the mounting frame 311 of the game island.

  When the bill discriminator 110 identifies that the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot 102 provided on the front panel 101 of the ball lending machine 100 is a genuine bill of a large amount bill such as a thousand yen or 10,000 yen bill, A signal is transmitted to the control board 120. And the banknote identification machine 110 hold | maintains the inserted banknote until it receives the discharge permission signal from the control board 120, and discharges the said banknote to the banknote conveying apparatus 320 according to reception of a discharge permission signal (route RA). .

  When the control board 120 determines that the genuine note signal from the bill validator 110 is valid, the control board 120 transmits to the ball paying unit 113 a permission signal for paying out game balls corresponding to the amount of money inserted. The ball payout unit 113 discharges the number of game balls corresponding to the received permission signal from the ball payout nozzle 106 (route RB).

  Similarly, when the coin discriminator 111 recognizes that the coin inserted from the coin insertion slot 103 is a regular 500 yen or one hundred yen coin and receives a discharge permission signal from the control board 120, the rear surface of the mounting frame 311 The coins are discharged to the coin transport device 330 via the bellows tube 340 provided on the side (route RC). When the control board 120 determines that the genuine coin signal from the coin discriminator 111 is valid, the control board 120 transmits a permission signal for paying out game balls having the number of balls corresponding to the inserted amount to the ball paying unit 113. To do. As a result, the number of game balls corresponding to the amount of money is discharged from the ball payout nozzle 106 (route RB).

  Foreign matter or the like that is determined not to be a regular coin by the coin discriminator 111 is discharged from the coin return port 107 (route RD).

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, operations for collecting banknotes and paying out game balls executed on the gaming island 3 having the above-described ball lending machine 100, banknote transporting device 320, and banknote collecting device 321 will be described. To do. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation performed by the ball lending machine 100 and the banknote collection device 321 in cooperation, and FIG. 7 is stored in the storage unit 324 of the banknote collection device 321 and is real-time related to the conveyance state of the banknotes. It is a figure showing the structure of the management table which is data information. Note that the flowchart of FIG. 6 focuses on the process executed by the central processing unit 121 provided on the control board 120 of the ball lending machine 100 and the process executed by the control unit 323 provided on the banknote collection device 321. Has been described.

  First, when the ball lending machine 100 is waiting for the insertion of money (banknotes or coins), when the banknote is inserted into the ball lending machine 100 and the banknote identification machine 110 identifies it as a genuine note, this amount information (for example, 1000 A genuine note signal including a circle) is transmitted to the control board 120.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 6, when the control board 120 receives the above-mentioned genuine note signal transmitted from the bill validator 110 (step S101: YES), the control board 120 requests the retransmission of the above-mentioned genuine note signal for confirmation. A request signal is transmitted to the bill validator 110 (step S102).

  The bill validator 110 resends the genuine note signal in response to the request signal (transmits the genuine note confirmation signal). In the control board 120, when a genuine note confirmation signal is not received by the time when a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) elapses from when the above-mentioned request signal is transmitted, or when the genuine note signal received first is retransmitted. When the ticket confirmation signal includes different information (step S103: NO), the process proceeds to step S104 and error processing is performed. In the error processing in step S104, for example, an error code indicating that the bill validator 110 is in an abnormal state or an illegal operation has been performed on the bill validator 110 is displayed on the LED display 104, and the ball lending machine 100 Stop operation.

  When the control board 120 receives a genuine note confirmation signal having the same content as the genuine note signal within a predetermined time (step S103: YES), the control board 120 issues a discharge permission request for permission to discharge the banknote to the banknote transport device 320. It transmits to the banknote collection | recovery apparatus 321 (step S105). Here, the signal of the discharge permission request is also a deposit signal that indicates to the bill collection device 321 that a genuine bill has been inserted into the ball lending machine 100 and has been properly deposited.

  When the banknote collection device 321 receives a discharge permission request signal as a deposit signal (step S201), the banknote collection device 321 is upstream of the ball lending machine 100 that has transmitted the discharge permission request in the banknote transport direction by the banknote transport device 320. The position of the banknote most recently discharged by all the ball lending machines arranged is obtained based on the information in the management table stored in the storage unit 324 (step S202).

  That is, in the management table shown in FIG. 7, as the position information of each ball lending machine 100 on the game island 3, the offset position from the start of the game island 3 on the upstream side in the banknote transport direction, and each ball lending machine For all the ball lending machines 100 arranged on the amusement island 3, the time when the banknotes 100 were discharged most recently and the information indicating whether the banknotes discharged most recently are currently being transported or collected are the banknotes. It is recorded in order according to the transport direction. In the above-described step S202, the banknote collection device 321 multiplies the time difference between the current time obtained from the clock 325 and the time when the upstream ball lending machine obtained from the management table ejects the banknote by multiplying the banknote transport speed to obtain the transport distance. The position of the banknote at the present time is obtained by adding the offset position of the upstream ball lending machine obtained from the management table to the transport distance.

  Next, in step S203, the difference (distance) between the position (offset position) of the ball lending machine 100 that transmitted the discharge permission request and the position of each bill discharged by the upstream ball lending machine obtained in step S202. ) Is within a predetermined range.

  That is, any of the distances obtained by subtracting the position of the bill being conveyed from the offset position of the ball lending machine 100 (hereinafter referred to as “distance between the ball lending machine and the bill being conveyed”) is zero. If it is determined that the distance is within a predetermined range (for example, 2 m or less) (step S203: YES), the process waits until the distance becomes zero or less (step S204). That is, in step S204, the process waits for the time determined by dividing the distance between the ball lending machine 100 and the banknote being conveyed by the banknote conveyance speed, determined as being within the predetermined range, and returns to the processing from step S202. Return.

  When it is determined in step S203 that the distance between the banknote discharged by the upstream ball lending machine and the ball lending machine 100 is not within the predetermined range (step S203: NO), the discharge permission request is made. An emission permission signal is immediately transmitted to the ball lending machine 100 (step S205).

  When the ball lending machine 100 receives a discharge permission signal from the banknote collection device 321 (step S106), it transmits a discharge permission signal for discharging the banknotes held by the banknote identification machine 110 to the banknote identification machine 100 (step S106). S107). The banknote discriminator 110 discharges the banknotes held in response to receiving the discharge permission signal to the banknote transport apparatus 320. And the control board 120 of the ball lending machine 100 transmits the signal which shows discharge completion to the banknote collection | recovery apparatus 321 (step S108).

  When the banknote collection device 321 receives this discharge completion signal, it obtains the current time from the clock 325, and updates the management table with this time as the time when the ball lending machine 100 ejects the banknote (step S206). In addition, you may record and update to the management table the time which transmitted the signal of discharge permission to the ball lending machine 100 in the above-mentioned step S205 as the time when the said ball lending machine 100 discharged | emitted the banknote to the banknote conveying apparatus 320. FIG.

  Then, the control board 120 of the ball lending machine 100 transmits a ball payout permission signal to the ball payout unit 113 (step S109). At this time, the control board 120 has a predetermined number of payout balls (the number of game balls to be paid out per unit amount, for example, 25 pieces / 100 yen) with respect to the inserted amount indicated in the genuine note signal received from the bill validator 110. The number obtained by multiplying, that is, information on the number of game balls to be paid out is included in the ball payout permission signal.

  The ball payout unit 113 discharges game balls as many as indicated by the ball payout permission signal, and the ball payout sensor 118 transmits a ball payout pulse of the number of game balls paid out to the control board 120. The control board 120 can know the number of game balls actually discharged and paid out from the ball payout unit 113 by counting the ball payout pulses (step S110).

  Then, the control board 120 verifies the consistency between the amount of money inserted and the number of game balls actually paid out (step S111). For example, when the specified value of the number of balls to be paid out is 25/100 yen, it is determined that there is consistency if the input amount is 1000 yen and the number of balls paid out is 250.

  If it is determined in step S111 that there is consistency, the payout process by inserting the banknote ends, and the process returns to the state waiting for the insertion of the banknote (or coin) from step S101.

  If consistency is not confirmed in step S111, the process proceeds to error processing in step S112. For example, an error code indicating that the ball dispensing unit 113 is in an abnormal state or that an illegal operation has been performed on the ball dispensing unit 113. Is displayed on the LED display 104, and the operation of the ball lending machine 100 is interrupted.

  In the embodiment described above, the adjustment of the timing at which the ball lending machine 100 discharges the banknotes to the banknote transport device 320 is transmitted, and the control unit 323 of the banknote collection device 321 transmits a discharge permission to each of the ball lending machines 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is controlled by a control unit such as a microcomputer that is connected to each ball lending machine 100 through a wired or wireless connection and stores the above-described management table. The timing control described above may be performed. In addition, the hall computer or other information terminal connected to each ball lending machine 100 via the local communication network 7 exchanges the above-described discharge permission request and discharge permission signal via the communication network 7, so that the timing described above can be obtained. Control may be performed.

  The present invention is not limited to the ball lending machine 100 that lends a game ball used when playing the pachinko machine 4, but a lending machine that lends game media such as medals used in slot machines and other game machines, and game media For example, the present invention can be applied to a lending machine that is rented as a disposable electronic value information by a player called a credit instead of a product.

  According to the banknote collection system having such a configuration, the control unit 323 transports the banknotes discharged from the ball lending machine upstream of the ball lending machine 100 that requests the banknote transport apparatus 320 to discharge the banknotes at the current time. Is calculated from the offset position of each ball lending machine recorded in the management table and the banknote discharge time, and the distance between the arrangement position of the ball lending machine 100 and the conveyance position of the banknote being conveyed is within a predetermined range. Prevents the overlap of banknotes in the banknote transport apparatus 320 by controlling the ball lending machine 100 to wait for the banknotes to be discharged. Thereby, the sensor etc. which detect the banknote currently conveyed with which each ball lending machine was equipped conventionally are no longer required, and the system configuration of bill collection can be simplified. Moreover, the cost concerning the facilities of the game island 3 can be reduced.

It is a front view showing the structure of a game island by a prior art. It is a front view showing the structure of an amusement island according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 (a) is a side view of a ball lending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 (b) is a front view thereof. It is a control block diagram of a ball lending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view of a ball lending machine by one embodiment of the present invention, and is a figure for explaining operation. It is a flowchart showing the operation | movement which a ball lending machine and a banknote collection | recovery apparatus cooperate in one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing the data structure of the management table with which a banknote collection | recovery apparatus is equipped by one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

3 ... Amusement Island 4 ... Pachinko machine,
100 ... ball lending machine, 101 ... front panel,
102 ... bill input slot, 103 ... coin input slot,
104 ... LED indicator 106 ... Ball dispensing nozzle,
107 ... coin return port, 110 ... banknote discriminator,
111 ... coin discriminator, 113 ... ball dispensing unit,
118: Ball payout sensor, 120 ... Control board,
121 ... Central control unit 124 ... Serial communication control unit
126 ... Input / output unit, 130 ... Line control board,
320 ... bill transport device, 321 ... bill recovery device,
322 ... bill safe, 323 ... control unit,
324 ... Storage unit, 325 ... Clock, 326 ... Signal wiring,
330 ... coin transport device, 331 ... coin recovery device,
332 ... coin safe, 911 ... bill detection sensor

Claims (4)

A plurality of gaming medium lending machines that rent out gaming media used when playing a game in a gaming machine according to the insertion of banknotes, a conveyance path that conveys the banknotes inserted into the respective gaming medium lending machines, and A bill collection system comprising a control device that is communicably connected to each game medium lending machine,
The game medium lending machine generates a deposit signal when it is determined that the inserted bill is true, and transmits a deposit signal to the control device;
Banknote discharging means for discharging the inserted banknotes to the transport path in response to reception of a discharge permission signal from the control device,
The control device stores storage positions of the game medium lending machines and times when the game medium lending machines discharge the banknotes to the transport path, respectively.
The storage means for transporting the banknotes ejected by the game medium lending machine other than the game medium lending machine that has transmitted the deposit signal in response to the receipt of the deposit signal from the game medium lending machine on the transport path. Waiting for the distance between the arrangement position of the game medium lending machine that transmitted the deposit signal and the calculated transport position to exceed a predetermined range, and then the discharge permission A banknote collection system comprising: a discharge permission unit that transmits a signal to the game medium lending machine.   The discharge permission means is configured to transfer the banknotes discharged by all the game medium lending machines disposed upstream in the direction in which the transfer path conveys banknotes relative to the game medium lending machine that transmitted the deposit signal. And waiting until the distance between the arrangement position of the gaming medium lending machine that transmitted the deposit signal and all the determined conveying positions exceeds a predetermined range, and then transmitting the discharge permission signal to the gaming medium lending machine The banknote collection system according to claim 1, wherein:   The control device includes update means for updating the storage content of the storage means with the time when the discharge permission signal is transmitted to the game medium lending machine as the time when the game medium lending machine discharges banknotes. The banknote collection system according to claim 1 or 2. A plurality of gaming medium lending machines that rent out gaming media used when playing a game in a gaming machine according to the insertion of banknotes, a conveyance path that conveys the banknotes inserted into the respective gaming medium lending machines, and A control device having storage means for storing an arrangement position of each game medium lending machine and a time at which each game medium lending machine discharges the banknote to the transport path, and connected to each game medium lending machine so as to communicate with each other A bill collection method in a bill collection system comprising:
The game medium lending machine generates a deposit signal when the inserted bill is identified as true and transmits the deposit signal to the control device;
When the control device receives the deposit signal from the game medium lending machine, all of the transport paths arranged on the upstream side in the direction in which the conveyance path conveys banknotes than the game medium lending machine that has transmitted the deposit signal. Arrangement of the game medium lending machine that has obtained the transfer position of the banknotes discharged by the game medium lending machine on the conveyance path based on the arrangement position stored by the storage means and the time and transmitted the deposit signal After waiting until the distance between the position and all the determined transport positions exceeds a predetermined range, a step of transmitting a discharge permission signal to the game medium lending machine;
The game medium lending machine includes a step of discharging the inserted banknote to the transport path when receiving the discharge permission signal from the control device.

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